


best birthday ever

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Banter, Birthday Fluff, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, M/M, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, No Angst, Pre-Slash, Sassy Steve Rogers, Sassy Tony Stark, Stony - Freeform, Team as Family, Tony Being Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, its 2012 up in this bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 16:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19023817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: “Surprise!”“What’s the occasion?” asked Tony. “Is it Steve’s birthday? Shit, did I miss his birthday?”Bruce gaped at him. “Tony, do you know what day it is?”“Wednesday,” Tony said proudly. “Steve already asked me that one.”“It’s your birthday, you idiot,” Steve said.





	best birthday ever

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTHONY EDWARD STARK
> 
> just some birthday fluff for all yall, enjoy :)))

“Not now, DUM-E,” Tony said, batting his persistent robot away. “I have to finish this, you know that.”

 

DUM-E beeped insistently and pulled on Tony’s sleeve, enough that he risked messing up the delicate wiring that Tony was painstakingly working on. 

 

“What do you want?” Tony looked up finally, glaring. “It better be- oh, hey, Steve. What’s up?”

 

Steve was standing in the doorway to the lab, looking amused. “You said you were coming to dinner,” he said. “Did you forget?”

 

“Did you sic my robot on me?” Tony countered, though he was shutting down his project. “Because that’s a war crime.”

 

“I was in a war, no it isn't,” Steve argued. “You’re just saying words.”

 

“Aren’t we all?” Tony mused.

 

“When’s the last time you slept?”

 

“Time is a human concept.”

 

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. Tony noted colorful smears on his fingers transferring to his face that Tony totally didn’t want to kiss. “You’re human, Tony.”

 

“Shush,” said Tony, pulling Steve into the elevator with him. “Did you guys eat without me?”

 

“Of course not,” Steve sounded offended by the very suggestion. 

 

Tony shrugged. “Are we having Chinese?”

 

“Do you know what day it is?” Steve asked, confused. 

 

Tony had to think for a minute. “Thursday?” he said finally.

 

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

 

“Thursday,” Tony repeated confidently. Steve was suppressing laughter. “Okay, this is why I have JARVIS. J, what day is it?”

 

“Wednesday, Sir,” JARVIS answered, sounding exasperated. 

 

Steve looked fondly amused. “Uh huh,” he said finally. Steve was definitely keeping something from Tony, he could tell. Only, he couldn’t guess what. 

 

He shot Steve a squirrelly look, narrowing his eyes as if the answer would appear out of thin air. Still, he came up with nothing. The elevator dinged happily, opening up the the empty common floor. 

 

“Where is everyone?” Tony said, looking around. “I thought this was team dinner. If this was just a ploy to get me out of my lab, Rogers, I’m going to be pissed.”

 

Steve stayed stubbornly silent, a smirk playing at the edges of his mouth. 

 

“Surprise!” people shouted from behind Tony. He whirled around, hand already wrapped in a gauntlet, only to see his team holding balloons. 

 

“Chill, Tony!” Clint raised an eyebrow. “Just us.”

 

Tony folded his gauntlet back. “You’d be surprised how many people yell  _ surprise!  _ before they jump you,” he said primly.

 

“Also, you’re paranoid,” said Natasha, smiling softly. 

 

“What’s the occasion?” Tony ignored her. “Is it Steve’s birthday? Shit, did I miss his birthday?”

 

Bruce gaped at him. “Tony, do you know what day it is?”

 

“Wednesday,” Tony said proudly. “Steve already asked me that one.”

 

“It’s your birthday, you idiot,” Steve said, coming to stand next to him. He was holding a balloon, too, though Tony hadn’t seen him grab it. “Happy birthday.”

 

Tony blinked owlishly. “There’s still a week until my birthday.”

 

“No, there’s not,” Steve said. 

 

“Yes, there is.”

 

“No, there’s not.”

 

“You’re wrong.”

 

“ _ You’re  _ wrong.”

 

“Boys!” Natasha chastised. “If you’re done being children, there’s cake.”

 

“Aw, Nat, I was enjoying that,” Clint complained. 

 

Tony stepped away from Steve. Somehow, while they were bickering, they had stepped nose to nose and it was distracting. “Cake sounds great,” Tony said awkwardly. “Is it really my birthday?”

 

“I can’t believe you forgot,” Bruce rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you a genius?”

 

“In my defense…” Tony trailed off.    
  
“Yeah?” Bruce prompted.

 

“Oh, no, that’s it,” Tony pursed his lips. 

 

Bruce buried his face in his hands. “You’re hopeless.”

 

“Steve, defend me, it’s my birthday,” Tony ordered, walking over to where Natasha was holding a slice of cake and snatching it out of her hands. “It’s my birthday, you can’t stab me.”

 

“Can I garotte you?” Natasha asked sweetly. Tony handed her back the plate. 

 

“No blood in the common areas,” Steve said sternly, with the air of a long-suffering mother. “You all know the rules.”

 

“There’s no blood if you strangle someone,” Clint said from his perch on top of the counter, sounding contemplative. “So that’s allowed, right?”

 

“Can we get back on topic, please?” Steve pleaded. “The topic is not killing our teammates, okay?”

 

“Buzzkill,” muttered Clint. “Anyway, Tony, are you doing anything to celebrate? You normally throw a big party, right?”

 

“I’m apparently doing this,” said Tony. “I haven’t done parties since that year I was dying.” Steve made a noise that sounded a little like a cat getting run over. “Really, I don’t normally remember my birthday, much less celebrate.”

 

“That’s depressing,” Natasha said bluntly. “Luckily for you, we have compensated for your patheticness. Come.”

 

Tony, valuing his life, followed. “You know,” he told her. “You could be nice to me every once in awhile.”

 

“That’s Steve’s job,” she teased. “You and I, we show our affection by bullying each other.”

 

“I never agreed to this.”

 

“Shut up, Antoshka.”

 

Bruce was the first one to hand Tony a wrapped parcel, green with a purple ribbon. “Happy birthday, Tony,” he said, gesturing for Tony to unwrap it.

 

Tony was surprised that any of them would bother getting him gifts; he was a billionaire, after all, and impossible to shop for. Anything he wanted, he could buy himself. At least, that had been people’s excuse over the years. Pepper and Rhodey had been the first ones to actually get him presents, and it was as weird to receive them as it always was. 

 

“Thanks, Brucie,” Tony said sincerely, not even having to open it to know that he’d love it. He opened it anyway, of course, and pulled out a photo frame. Inside it was a copy of their first patent together, for the fabric that made Bruce’s Hulk pants. Tony saw it for what it was, and pulled Bruce into a tight hug. 

 

“Catch, asshole,” Clint, with his impeccable aim, threw a bundle at Tony, hitting him squarely in the face. Tony unraveled the Hawkeye shirt and clutched it to his chest.

 

“Aw, Birdbrain, did someone finally make you merch?” he pouted. “It only took, what, two years? Iron Man merchandise has existed since 2008.”

 

Clint rolled his eyes. “Because they could draw your faceplate instead of that ugly mug,” he shot back. “It took two years to render my face in all its beauty.”

 

Tony raised a skeptical eyebrow, letting it speak for him.

 

“Can’t you two be nice to each other?” Steve smacked Tony’s shoulder lightly. 

 

“It’s one of life’s great mysteries,” said Natasha, handing her box to Tony. “Here, Antoshka.”

 

Tony didn’t touch it. “Did you cover it in a contact poison again?”

 

“That was one time!” Natasha made a face. “Besides, you were only paralyzed for a day or two, and you were unconscious for most of it.”

 

“Do we need a  _ no poisoning teammates _ rule, too?” Steve looked like he was praying for strength. “Because I don’t want to, but I will make one.”

 

“There’s no poison,” Natasha said. “Open it before I take it back.”

 

Tony shot her a smile. “Love you, Nat,” he singsonged, unwrapping the package. A set of beautifully polished knives rested on red and gold velvet. They looked handmade. Tony immediately started thinking of ways to integrate them into his suit; he could always use short range weapons, just in case. 

 

“I take it you like them?” Natasha asked wryly, understanding Tony’s muttered calculations.

 

“Do you have a drafting pencil?” he asked, measuring a blade with his fingers. “Or a crayon, I’m not picky. J, do we have space in the Mark 45 for these?”

 

“No shop talk at parties,” Steve chided, drawing Tony’s attention. “That’s literally rule three.”

 

“I live to break your rules,” Tony deadpanned. “It’s the only thing in life that brings me joy.”

 

“That’s not true,” Bruce said placidly. “You were telling me the other day about St-”

 

“It is the only thing,” Tony hissed, cutting Bruce off. “It’s my birthday, you’re not legally allowed to be mean to me.”

 

Bruce shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes were full of mischief. Natasha caught on quickly, flashing Tony a quicksilver smile. “We are going to go cue up a movie,” she said, standing up and grabbing Bruce and Clint. “Steve, give Tony his present. Maybe it will bring him joy.”

 

Steve blushed bright red. “Natasha-” he started. “And she’s gone.”

 

“You don’t have to give me anything,” Tony said quickly, trying to nip the awkwardness in the bud. “I wasn’t expecting anything, and you all just being here is enough, really.”

 

Steve ran a hair through his hair, messing it up. Tony wanted to run his own hands through it, but that was neither here nor there. “I do have a gift for you,” he admitted. He smiled ruefully. “I don’t know if you’ll like it, though.”

 

“I will,” Tony promised. 

 

“Stab me with one of those fancy knives if you don’t,” Steve met Tony’s eyes. He leaned in, and they were kissing.

 

It was a sweet kiss, chaste with just a hint of more. Steve’s lips were soft on his own, exactly how Tony imagined they would be. Steve leaned back first, breathing hard.

 

“Good?” he asked nervously, like Tony’s blush wasn’t giving him all the answers he needed. 

 

Tony dragged him by the collar into a decidedly less chaste kiss. When he had to pull away, lungs burning from the lack of oxygen, he rested his forehead against Steve’s, not wanting to break contact. 

 

“Happy birthday, Tony,” Steve whispered.

  
“Best birthday  _ ever _ .”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!
> 
> comments and kudos make me smile, and hmu on tumblr @imposter-human with prompts!


End file.
